October 4, 2021 |
The Wyoming Republican Party sent a letter late last week to the legislative leaders urging them to call a special session to take action against a looming vaccine mandate from the White House.
The letter, signed by the Wyoming GOP Chairman Frank Eathorne, expresses frustration with Governor Mark Gordon for not expressing more urgency on the issue. The letter is addressed to Senate President Dan Dockstader and House Speaker Eric Barlow. Eathorne notes that Governor Gordon issued a statement on September 15th that he was discussing the possibility of a special session with them.
Eathorne goes on to say that “people have grown weary of discussions, people need to see action.” The letter does not state what specific legislation should be passed.
On September 9th, Joe Biden issued a sweeping and unprecedented federal order mandating workers at private companies with 100 employees or more take one of the COVID-19 vaccines.
OSHA will oversee the implementation of the mandate, but the Occupational Health and Safety Administration has not issued a rule yet, or even a timeline on when the rule will be announced. Legislation was introduced in Congress last week that would prevent OSHA from issuing any emergency requirement. About a dozen states already have enacted some kind of bans on vaccine mandates.
In August, the Wyoming Republican Party sent Governor Gordon a draft of an executive order prohibiting “employer vaccine mandates” in Wyoming for his review. The governor has not yet made any public moves toward taking executive action against vaccine mandates.
In Eathorne’s letter dated September 30th, the GOP party boss said that with many employers instituting vaccine mandates of their own, some Wyomingites could lose their job before a special session could convene.
Bigfoot 99 tried to reach Eathorne over the weekend, but our call was not returned.
Carbon County Wyoming Republican Party Chair Joey Correnti did take our call. Correnti said GOP regulars and county chairs found out about the letter and the demand for a special session the same way everybody else did — through Friday’s email. The letter apparently came as a surprise, and Correnti said county organizations have questions.
Eathorne’s letter begins by saying that the state GOP has “received a high volume of feedback from Wyomingites opposing” the White House mandate because it is unlawful.
“They are not looking for talk, they are demanding action,” the letter states.
Correnti said he is hearing the same thing locally. People he hears from are generally opposed to the mandate. The big question, Correnti said, is determining the best way to push back against the mandate.
Correnti said he is concerned that a special session could produce unintended consequences. Among them is an attempt to expand Medicaid in Wyoming under the name of COVID control. Besides, a special session is not necessary, he said. The Wyoming Constitution, Correnti said, contains provisions for individuals to make their own health care decisions.
Correnti said as a party chairman, he has not heard whether legislative leadership has responded to the Eathorne letter.
Kathy Russell, the executive director of the state GOP, refused to answer our two questions on Sunday: 1) Has Legislative leadership responded to the letter, and 2) What specific legislation does the GOP want to see. Russell forwarded our contact information to the Eathorne, but we received no response to our inquiry.
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